Butadiene is an important chemical for the production of commercial polybutadiene rubbers, such as those used in the production of tires. Polybutadiene is a desirable rubber due to its resistance to wear, and its high elastic resilience. The sources of butadiene traditionally are a by-product from naphtha cracking. As demand for ethylene and propylene increase, the demand to convert more naphtha to ethylene and propylene reduces the yields for C4 and heavier hydrocarbons from naphtha cracking. This results in a smaller source of material for the production of butadienes.
As demand increases for butadienes, in spite of the demand increases for ethylene and propylene, other sources of C4 compounds are needed. C4 compounds include butanes butenes and butadienes. New sources include fluidized catalytic cracking sources, methanol to olefins, ethylene dimerization, and dehydrogenation of butanes recovered from natural gas fields or oil fields. With the new sources, new processes are needed to efficiently produce and recover butadienes.
The production of a polymer precursor requires many steps. The process can be improved through reducing energy requirements and providing for better management of the process streams.